The present invention is directed generally to seats with armrests and more particularly to a seat with an armrest that may be pivoted to an out-of-the-way position to permit the occupant of the seat to leave the seat via the side of the seat.
Seats with armrests of this type are typically provided for vehicle operators who must enter or leave the seat from the side, generally because there is a console or dashboard with vehicle operating equipment located in front of the seat, thereby precluding entry to or exit from the seat via the front. A typical situation would be in the cab of a locomotive. Because the occupant of the seat will be required to sit in the seat for extended periods of time while he is operating the vehicle, it is desirable to provide an armrest for the occupant. Normally, such armrests are mounted for pivotal movement through a vertical plane between a horizontally extending position for supporting the arm of the seat occupant and a vertically disposed position, in which the armrest extends upwardly alongside the back of the seat, to permit the seat occupant to enter or leave the seat.
It is sometimes desirable, as in an emergency situation, for the occupant to leave the seat rapidly. In such a situation, the desired action for displacing the armrest to a non-obstructing, exit-permitting position is to push outwardly against the armrest. This action is faster and less involved than pivotally raising the armrest through a vertical plane because the former can be accomplished simultaneously with, and as a part of, the act of exiting. Accordingly, seats of this type are provided with armrests which, in addition to pivoting through a vertical plane to an out-of-the-way position, also pivot through a horizontal plane away from the seat to permit rapid exit by the seat occupant.
An armrest of this type is disclosed in Harder U.S. Pat. No. 3,951,452. Such armrests are called breakaway armrests because they require striking the armrest a sidewards blow with a predetermined "breakaway" force to displace the armrest from its normal horizontally extending, arm-supporting position.